1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to 3-dimensional (3D) scanning and measuring systems and more particularly relates to methods and systems for generating 3D fully textured models from 2-dimensional imagery of 3D objects acquired by a color video imaging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Three-dimensional (3D) models of objects can provide information useful for a variety of applications such as generating computer aided design models from physical objects in product designs, outlining biological structures or organs in medical research and generating digital characters for computer games. Nevertheless, the creation of the 3D models has in the past required highly skilled professionals, extensive artistic knowledge, expensive modeling equipment and laborious efforts.
With the popularity of personal computers and the rapid emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW), there are increasing demands from non-professionals for 3D modeling systems that require no extensive knowledge to operate. For example, a business may need to generate 3D models of its products and present them on its www site to attain its e-commerce presence. A game developer may need to create a 3D model of a physical object to use as a realistic character in a computer game. A child may want to generate a 3D image of one of his/her favorite new toys to share by the Internet with a relative living remotely. The various applications and demands have proclaimed features of such 3D modeling systems that must be low in cost and easy in operation.
One of the commonly used 3D modeling systems is a triangulation system projecting beams of laser light onto an object. Ordinarily, the reflected light bounces off the object at an angle relative to the light source. The system employing an imaging system collects the reflection information from a different location relative to the light source and then determines the coordinates of the point or points of reflection by triangulation. A single dot system projects a single beam of light which, when reflected, produces a single dot of reflection. A scanning line system sends a plane of light against the object, the plane of light is reflected as a curvilinear-shaped set of points describing one contour line of the object. The location of each point in that curvilinear set of points can be determined by triangulation. The accuracy of the systems may be high but the systems are costly. The triangulation in the systems requires a precise configuration between the light source and the imaging system. Further the digitizing speed is usually slow when the object is large in size and limited by the mechanics of the scanning system.
Another commonly used 3D modeling approach is a stereoscopic system employing one or more imaging systems located at known locations or distances from each other to take multiple images of a 3D object. The captured images are processed with a pattern recognition system that corresponds to the various points of the object in the multiple images and triangulates to extract depth information of these points, thereby obtaining the shape/contour information of the 3D object.
The above systems are either costly or require substantial knowledge to operate and not applicable in many applications that can not afford the cost and complexity. It is therefore a great need for a 3D modeling system that is easy to set up, virtually anywhere within minutes, and operated together with a personal computer, to scan and measure a 3D object and electronically replicate a fully-textured 3D model of the object.